My expectations for tomorrow's games are not high. Not only does Minnesota do things that we haven't played well against this year, like a strong running game and using their TE as a primary target in the passing game, but there are too many unknowns like who is injured and not playing on our side.
I'll be watching this game to see who steps up. Which young guys will make a statement and show they are ready to play, and which young guys will show they need more work? Peterson, Wilson, Bailey on Defense? Allen or Price on offense?
I want to see how L. Allen is used. He's not Tucker, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them used differently.
I'm curious to see if there are any obvious wrinkles from Beck.
And of course, I'm just as curious to see how Monroe does calling the defense. Also looking to see if we can spot any influences on the defense from professor Long.
As always, I think we will make this interesting if we can do the following.
- Win the third down conversion battle. Get them off the field and extend drives for us. We can't give up yardage on first downs that allows Minnesota to stay ahead of the chains.
- Win the turnover margin. This is always huge.
- Explosive plays. We need a few and we need do not give them up.
- The punt game needs to be on tomorrow. Our protection was not great this year. We need to be solid tomorrow. The true freshman from Australia isn't a freshman any longer. He has a full season of experience to learn from. No shanks.
Watching the game thru the proper lens and with reasonable expectations will help keep my blood pressure in check.
Take the points.
Go Orange!